december

There are only a few days left before the end of the year, it felt appropriate to post something.

Though Im not quite sure what.

only a few weeks left for this class

gone so quick, I think?

some painting fun

and colour / high key fooling around.

it always comes back to the light.

for me, anyway.
in everything I draw or paint its the one aspect that ruins me or I think over too much. Its definately not a negative, but its something that fascinates me so much, to the point it is almost obsessive. (this my anaglyphic lino and obsession with the whole concept of such) There are certain places that amaze me, and things which can hold my gaze for far longer than most; ...
leadlighting
clouds
water pools, puddles, drops, on glass or metal
man made reflective/ractive materials
and most of all.. aurora.. (which I am yet to see, but one day will)
so.. if at any stage during my painting drawing experimenting etc I come across an effect created by light and its wonderfully playful ways.. I'll spend hours days weeks whatnot, looking and trying to understand why, and how to duplicate it.
Last year it was a dry pigment and pastel obssession. Because of this;




The photos are mobile phone pics, so the quality is crappy. But the way the wet paints sat so differently to the dry pigments, the different colours and their composition really fascinted me, and I loved the idea that I could actually add dimension using this concept. That a flat image was actually interesting at all angles, not just a 90' one. That it could be entirely more fulfilling for me to create imagery that was multi faceted withouht being three dimensional in form.

There are a bunch of articles about the properties of certain pigments and mediums relating to their light reflection and refraction properties, and tbh completely interests me because I am a massive nerd. And as always.. my moth like ways just love the light and the beautiful things it does..


http://acept.asu.edu/PiN/rdg/refraction/refraction.shtml
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/feathers/color/document_view (structural colours)
http://naturalpigments.com/education/article.asp?ArticleID=8

Artist books, and travel.

This website is pretty neat. You can mark off places you've been. It'd be nice if I could have different coloured dots for where I'd like to go though

wolpy map

My artist books (we're doing some in my printing class also) are moving along.. interestingly. At the moment I'm cutting out little blocks from cardboard wheels. They'll be mounted on to a handle, and transparent slides glued between. Hopefully it will give a nice little short 'clip' effect when spun.

I'm also starting to create some 'junk' books. My mind is often obsessed with apocolyptic style world fantasies.. mad max, tank girl, insert tens of other appropriate films.. and after yesterday's artist forum with Lloyd Godman ( who spoke to us last year so I was kind of hoping he'd talk about some of his other works but he spoke about all the same ones.. ) I was even more motivated to create books that could come from such an era. When the only products we'd have access to would be junk, found objects. For the sake of ease I am allowing myself a glue gun.. although to be honest I doubt I'd be having the power to run it. So the concept is somewhere between fantasy and forecast reality.

will post pics soon.

oh and also

damien frost is a pretty rad guy and artist type. he has a bunch of websites, check them out or google him if you like.


he has a new project happening. for arty types. join if you want. much fun and communal image generating. here's the link.

http://www.1015saturdaynight.com/

what am I supposed to say to that?

the earth and its strange little buzzing people and the wonderfully strange connections we have.

but, again, what am I supposed to say to that??

it's easier to draw a picture. I'll upload soon.

LAZY.

oh my gawd a month and a bit can go pretty fast.

So there are a few of artist book ideas I still have in my head. Not many are reflective of anything to do with my personality or myself. Its just, work. Sometimes that troubles me. The creation is no less sincere, but sometimes I struggle with the fact that not all the things I create have an intencity to their meaning. Or they no meaning at all, aside from aesthetics. I was born in the wrong era tbh.. I love Gaudi and Art Nouveau... . Anyway.
The past year has pretty much shown me I have 'self portrait self exploration self ... putting myself on paper' - phobia. I couldn't think of a more boring or over thought subject than myself. Wondering too much can always ruin the magic for me, and 24 years has been plenty of time to lose interest in myself.

So. Artist books once again. I dig the idea of some scrolls.... first I wanted to make a flip book but couldn't get past a love for wanting to include something kind of steampunk feel about it.. I love antiques roadshow btw. boy and I often devour pizza watching the awesomeness that is antique nerds and old world craftmanship.. so on that show they sometimes have these.. amazingly wonderful movie book players. that rotate massive rolls of imagery on individual cardstock while you look through a viewer.. intensely gorgeous. But unrealistic knowing my own time and dedication to completing projects.. I'd always be disappointed with how small it would turn out.
So looking through google image brought up some pretty scroll books. Tiny things. Handheld but still capable of rolling up well over a metre of paper I can assume? Books began as scrolls after all. So I think this is the way to go.

see pics for somewhere close to the concept:

http://www.jhu.edu/~gazette/2002/14jan02/images/14page8.jpg


There is a massive loot of individual artist books to be made via the rubbish that is myspace/facebook/etc but I will leave that for next blog when I have some examples.


lastly; how awesome is this?

http://www.centerforbookarts.org/exhibits/socal/ng.jpg

anaglyphic lino tree of life

for my silk cut entry.

joy. paint. tears. etc.

but I dig it.

sweet little book

while looking around for artist book ideas, I found this one and I really love the way it looks, and opens up. Personally I'd love to include other more tactile elements.. rather than just paper. Though the way it is bound is really lovely.

http://myhandboundbooks.blogspot.com/2008/02/olive-and-sage-double-album.html

robert and shana parkharrison

The link to the right, http://www.parkeharrison.com/

The photographs to me are exactly the kind of work I love, and bring up a lot of the thoughts I work with in my own ideas and concepts.

They give me a feeling of seclusion. Of man and nature in contrast, at opposition to each other. The destructive and organic power of nature against the same in man. That change, that constant evolution. The beautiful and terrifying imagery it evokes, in me at least.

Hum.

Quite lovely. Most certainly something which speaks to me.

mourning

so, yesterday I decided to take two paintings home to work on them, since after two months I wanted to push them more toward the finished stage..
I left them ON THE TRAIN. connex lost property are so unhelpful. Forever lost, I can only assume.

erm my artist books.. plural since there are a few happening for different subjects at the moment. These particular ones I plan on creating some small flip books with photos. It was an idea and fun toy I had started thinking about last year.. though wanted to do so with a pinhole camera. At the moment I have no access to dark room chemicals, so it will probably be done with my new SLR, scalled down, photoshopped, printed and cut up small.. say polaroid type size.

xoxoxox

tonight there was a great doc on sbs about a girl becoming a geiko.. so pretty.

hum. new camera photos.

also, my housemates are so incredibly annoying.

energy and meridians, healing, etc

on thursday night I was given a bowen therapy session.. I've had massages and reiki and have a deep interest in energy healing in general, but never before had this kind.

http://www.bowen.asn.au

I've always had very bad sinisitus and bad lymphatic system drainage. It was wonderful that over the next day or so my breathing is cleaer already. That night I'd had pains in either side of my chest.. chainging from one then to the other.. but now that has gone. All through today and some of friday I've had hot flushes every now and then. Meant to be drinking lots of water.. no hot or cold packs, no hot showers (well, not burny hot as I usually like mine, just warm)

The experience itself was as relaxing as any type of good massage or therapy.. but Im also feeling very different effects to those I've had after a massage, or reiki.

I have completely not had a chance to play with my new camera, it has gone to work every day this week with the boy.

paintings which have their beginnings..

fantastic things

The boy and I, well, he bought us a new camera. The eos 40D, it is amazing. It's the camera I've wanted since, well, since the 30D haha.

beautiful!!

some work from last year

some little marks of late..

The 39 Steps

Opening nights are always a little of a culture shock. In my own way I try to be social, though in reality my naivety ruins the experience.

The show was amazing of course, lighting perfect. 

My shyness and some champagne were probably the only two things that hindered the night. 

When introduced to Maria Aitken, (international star, amazing director, and then finally to me the only part I really understand, quite nice and allowing of my shyness ).. Im terrible with these things due again to my naivety and habbit of blank responses.. when introduced I ended up firstly taking the hand of another ASM who I'd met before.. before realising what I'd done and adding a polite 'hello' when taking the correct hand of the correct person.

She asked me if I were an actress. I'm not sure if that is a positive thing. I guess it is. My art allows me to a little, I suppose. We agreed it is a lovely gift to know what you are born to do, need to do.

and off I went to more champagne and hanging about with the boy to be introduced. 

A larger cast makes for a better opening night though, it seems.

Brian Froud

Things and worlds I love!

two hours reading front to back and some money well spent. hmph.

home and things

http://www.valimyers.com/

http://www.pollyharvey.co.uk/

just constantly tired and out of character. some things that are enjoyable still.

prints

copper plate.. and monoprint

monoprint leaves

copper plate girls

aquatint, sugarlift, + hand burnished copper plate prints.

distorted chiqua, art nouveau

from an abstraction exercise.

trees and tree fuzz

fuzz, note, being that feeling which overwhelms me, when I am surrounded by the tallest of trees, the greenest of leaves, the barest of branches... always the same warmth.

hello.